
3 1 c m
40cm
actual image size: 32cm x 23cm
Description
Sample of a large fragment of an asteroid that punched a 160km-wide hole in the Earth's surface in the Kalahari Desert, South Africa. In the past scientists believed that any meteorite like this one (more than 4 km accross) would have melted or vaporized upon impact leaving no remains. However in 2006 geologists drilled a 25cm fragment fossil meteorite out of South Africa's 145-million-year-old Morokweng crater.
Image Details
Image Ref.
10461233
© Science Museum / Science & Society Picture Library